Pensions

Local government pension scheme (LGPS) funds

The law relating to LGPS funds – registered, funded, statutory, public-sector pension schemes – is a highly specialised area. Each regional fund is governed by an administering authority and administered, managed and funded at a local level. Local government lawyers are well-placed to understand an administering authority’s complex service requirements and able to provide the high level of contact needed to ensure that the authority’s legal risks are quickly identified and resolved. nplaw and its predecessor, Norfolk County Council’s legal team, have acted for Norfolk Pension Fund for many years and our lawyers work closely with their counterparts, giving advice on:

scheme governance and member related issues;

eligibility requirements, the payment of contributions and the benefit structure in this career-average scheme, as well as provisions regarding the scheme’s administration and management;

the effect of the Best Value Authorities Staff Transfers (Pensions) Direction 2007 providing for the inclusion of pension protection provisions in outsourcing agreements;

interactions with other pension schemes, for example NHS Pensions;

delivery mechanisms arising from LGPS reforms, most recently in relation to pooling arrangements.

Commercial advice for LGPS funds

We also advise Norfolk Pension Fund on a range of business issues, such as:

the procurement of IT administration systems including tendering processes and contract negotiations;

employment law both in respect of individual issues and broader restructuring or outsourcing projects;

intellectual property matters;

information and data protection law;

property law.

The National LGPS Framework Project

nplaw’s LGPS lawyers have extended their niche specialism even further as legal advisers to the National LGPS Framework project, a groundbreaking initiative which won the “Best Collaboration” at the LGC Investment Awards in November 2015. The project is a collaboration between several LGPS funds which, through the establishment of OJEU compliant best practice procurement vehicles, has allowed its members to leverage their combined buying power resulting in significant savings whilst still supporting local decision making and service requirements. The framework is open to all LGPS funds and, increasingly, the wider public sector. Work commenced in 2012 with the launch of an actuarial and benefit consultancy services framework, an investment consultancy framework and a global custody services framework. nplaw has acted as legal adviser to the project since its inception, providing professional support across a range of tasks including extensive negotiations with financial services providers from across the industry.

Practice Areas

Our Specialists

The professional legal support given to the project has been critical to its success. The diligence and expertise of the lawyers involved has been top class. Significantly their work has stood the test of hard T&C negotiations with legal teams from some of the largest financial institutions in the world… Despite their many other responsibilities and priorities, we genuinely feel that nplaw are an essential part of our team

Nicola Mark, Head of Norfolk Pension Fund and Chair of the National LGPS Framework group

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The lawyers in nplaw are employed to provide legal services to Norfolk County Council and a range of other public sector organisations.

nplaw is registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority as an in-house legal department (registration number 65083). Solicitors working at nplaw are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.